Trickling Blood
by Phoenix Flamelight
Summary: A challenge to NightClan. A one-shot. Cedarpaw is warned about the future, but he ignores. He doesn't care. What will happen? Read to find out!


_Another challenge to NightClan. Hope you like it. Please review!_

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**Trickling Blood  
**

Lilystar hopped onto the Stone Mound.

"Patrols! Darkcloud, go with Willowfur and Daisypool. Toadpaw, you can go with Cedarpaw and Silverclaw. Suncloud, well, you can go alone, being a warrior. Go!"

Cedarpaw looked kind of unhappy with Toadpaw. They exited out of FireClan's camp. Silverclaw whispered to Toadpaw and he looked up.

"Uh, Cedarpaw? Can we look at something there? There's, um, something that Silverclaw told me about that she saw. She says I can probably handle it. You can, um, check the border or something."

Cedarpaw frowned and sniffed the air. Nothing unusual, but he nodded and walked away, feeling upset that he couldn't check it out. And they seemed suspicious. Mysterious, even. He shrugged and walked to the edge of a river.

"Why does everything seem so mysterious? Deadly?" he asked the river.

Of course, there was no response. But, when he bent down closer to the river's shore... he smelled... Darkcloud... and... blood. Death.

Suddenly, there was rustling. A white cat with golden streaks and blue eyes appeared. Suncloud.

"Suncloud? What are you doing here?"

"It's a message. I don't know why, but I think it's StarClan who sent me it. 'Cedarpaw, prepare for pain'. I don't know what it means. It also mentioned one more word. 'Darkcloud'. No joke! I'm serious!" yelped Suncloud.

The brown tom laughed. "Nice joke." But suddenly, he froze. A voice, trying to say something. He could only make out two words: "Cedarpaw, beware!"

"See?" hissed Suncloud. "Where's your patrol? Come on!" He rushed away, terrified.

Rain started pouring. Thunder boomed. Lightning crackled. Instead of going back to FireClan camp, he decided to rest. He found a dark tree hole at the bottom of an oak tree and went to sleep.

The next morning, he was awoken by hissing and voices.

"I hate him! I want to kill him!" hissed Darkcloud's voice.

"Darkcloud, I know that. You told me. But no. This is the warrior code. I-" said a silky voice: his mate, Snowheart.

"You want no death. You know I don't care about the warrior code. Cedarpaw will be killed by me by sun-high!" roared Darkcloud. Then he flinched. "I smell something... Cedarpaw."

Cedarpaw heard twigs cracking and leaves rustling. He immediately knew it was Darkcloud. He dived into the side and Darkcloud peered inside, eyes glowing evilly.

"Never mind," he muttered. "He just probably was here yesterday's patrol."

He walked away, followed by crunching leaves, probably is mate.

Cedarpaw sighed in relief. No death, yet. But today, Darkcloud had created a deadline to murder him. And Cedarpaw was in big trouble.

Cedarpaw walked out and started climbing the tree. Up on the top, he found Suncloud eavesdropping the bottom.

"See, Cedarpaw? Your in danger. I'm your mentor, and I will protect you. Don't go to camp. Darkcloud is waiting for you there. But the messages are connected you, me, Darkcloud, and StarClan. Don't ignore them." Suncloud slipped down.

When Suncloud's golden tail-tip dissapeared, Cedarpaw thought for a moment and whisked down. Who cares about Cedarpaw's death? He would just inform the leader and stay in camp forever. No death than, still... hopefully.

When Cedarpaw slipped into camp, immediately he noticed Suncloud's murderous glare. Darkcloud grinned evilly at Cedarpaw.

"Cedarpaw! Where have you been? You were supposed to come back to camp! Silverclaw and Toadpaw had been worried sick and so had the clan," cried out Lilystar, rushing forward.

"We need to talk," muttered Cedarpaw quietly so nobody could hear.

"In my den. Come on," said Lilystar, beckoning forward Cedarpaw with her tail. They slipped inside the leader's den and immediately her expression turned from happy to serious.

"What is it? The message?" asked Lilystar.

Cedarpaw shifted uncomfortably. "You've heard about it? About the pain and Darkcloud?"

"Of course. Only you, Suncloud, and I know about it. I want you to see, well, this must be hard for you. You should go on a patrol by yourself so you can clear your head a bit."

Cedarpaw nodded. He went to the river again.

By the time he got there, he was wet. The day, he forgot to mention, had been miserable again, so he could barely see.

Then he tensed. He was immediately flattened by some tom.

"You ignored it, eh? I knew you would," hissed a familiar voice- Darkcloud.

"You!" gasped Cedarpaw.

"Quiet! You deserve death! And I will give you death!" roared Darkcloud. He unsheathed his razor-sharp claws and cut through Cedarpaw's throat.

"Why? What did I do to you?" wailed Cedarpaw in a horrible raspy voice. But Darkcloud was already gone.

Cedarpaw looked down and saw red liquid. Blood. He now understood StarClan's message. _Cedarpaw, prepare for pain. Cedarpaw, beware!_ Cedarpaw was never prepared. He thought it was a joke. He thought he was safe.

_Darkcloud._ Darkcloud was the main point. He had prepared to give Cedarpaw pain.

Cedarpaw looked down at his own trickling blood, and blacked out from pain and death.

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_Sad, eh? It's a challenge, as usual. I hope you liked it. Please review! :D_


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